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Entente Cordiale 



from the letters of 

Lieutenant Henri G — 



BOSTON 

Geo. H. Ellis Co. 

1918 



o . 



COPYRIGHT, I9l8 
GEO. H. ELLIS CO. 



M 28 1918 



©CI.A497933 



From the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 



Preface 

In the spring of 1916 a French soldier, Lieutenant 
G — , received from a dying comrade two letters 
which had come from America. The author of the 
letters was a stranger to both men, but was seeking, 
through the (Euvre mon Soldat, a. chance to cor- 
respond with one of the defenders of France. 
Lieutenant G — answered the letters; and thus was 
begun a friendship which has grown firm and deep, 
though the writers have never met. 

The messages from France are simple, direct 
expressions of the superb patriotism which ani- 
mates every French soldier, from the highest officer 
to the humblest poilu. They reveal heartfelt 
appreciation of the assistance given to France by 
her allies; and at a time when German propaganda 
seeks to cast doubts on the motives and mutual 
relations of the Allied Powers, evidence such as 
this of the cordial feeling in the French Army 
toward us is of real importance. 

The translation of Lieutenant G — 's letters is as 
nearly as possible a literal one. The arrangements 
for their publication have been made possible by 
the kindness of an interested reader who feels that 
their power to make friends should have wider scope. 

True Allies, fighting for true democracy, win 
prove unconquerable. 

W. L. W. F. 



Aux armees, 
29th August, 19 1 6. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

My dear comrade Delberg gave me, before 
dying, the two amiable letters you had sent to 
him. Wounded myself, I was unable to reply 
to you at once, and it was not until I returned 
to the front for the fourth time, that I found 
my little belongings and your letters. My 
comrade died bravely, as every one does here, 
in the front of these maudits Boches, who keep 
us from having news of our dear families. 

As I see that your kind heart offered a corre- 
spondent to my dear departed friend, I ask you, 
if it will not trouble you too much, to write to me. 
I also am from the invaded regions, and I have 
my wife and three dear little ones in the hands 
of our enemies; therefore you can believe that 
it is not always gay. It would thus be with 
pleasure that I could distract myself with an 
exchange of letters. I know that your great 
country has taken an interest in our just cause. 
Your political questions interest me, and that 
which the neutrals think of us and our allies. 
The news of your country life — the stories of 
your little hens, etc. — interest me also, and 
change my ideas in recalling my lost hearth. 

I am grateful to you in advance for the trouble 



6 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

which you will take, and I shall do my best to 
write you often. It will seem so good to read 
an agreeable word. In this hope and begging 
you to accept for yourself and your family my 
best wishes, I beg you, Monsieur, to believe in 
my meilleurs sentiments. 

Henri G — 



13th November, 19 16. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

It gives much pleasure to us combatants to 
know that over there across the sea, unknown 
friends are thinking of us, and k is a com- 
fort to feel ourselves morally sustained in the 
great cause for which we fight. As you have 
had the goodness to ask me what I should like, 
I permit myself to ask you if it would be possible 
to send some illustrated magazines which would 
make known to me and my friends your lovely 
country. It would give great pleasure to my 
comrades and to me and will make the hours 
seem less long, for in the mud and the snow one 
has not always a smile. 

lyth November, 1916. 

I was agreeably surprised to receive two days 
ago your long and detailed letter. I do not 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 7 

know how to thank you sufficiently for the 
pleasure it gave me and the moral aid you have 
thus brought me. As you ask it, it will be very 
delightful for me to converse frequently with 
you, and as the mail between our two countries 
takes so long, I am going to permit myself to 
write you about every two weeks. I am going 
to ask you to excuse me from not writing you 
in pure French, because I am not as well edu- 
cated as you. I have made above all commer- 
cial and mechanical studies. 

As you have been good enough to accept my 
correspondence, it is of the most elementary 
politeness that I should introduce myself. I am 
thirty-one years old and was before the war 
agent for a large steel firm in Lille. I lived with 
my wife and my three little children in a small 
house in the suburbs of Lille, where I had my 
office, and I travelled in the north of France and 
parts of Belgium. On the 9th of October, 1914, 
my quarter was bombarded and burned by the 
Germans on their entry into the city. Since 
this date I am entirely ignorant of what has 
happened to my dear family. Cest le plus triste. 
The factories to which I was attached, being 
in the east of France in the invaded regions, 
have been completely destroyed. There remains 
for us nothing at all but the courage to put one's 
self back to work as soon as the war is over. In 



8 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

spite of our modest salaries, which do not com- 
pare with those of your region, I had a position 
which permitted me to have a charming house, 
and I worked with pleasure to offer a good 
education to my little children. All that is 
now only a remembrance — the little house which 
I had had built is completely destroyed. I do 
not know whether my papers, securities, etc., 
have been stolen or burned. That is of small 
importance now. The hope of returning vic- 
torious keeps one alive. When one is young 
with a good will one can make again a little 
living. 

For two weeks we have had snow and it has 
been below freezing, and there is a great deal 
of fog, which makes the service hard. In spite of 
the fact that the shelters are quite comfortable, 
and that our chiefs give us everything which 
can protect us from the rigors of winter, one has 
not always the heart to write, especially when 
thinking of the beloved beings in the invaded 
regions, who suffer more than martyrs because 
of the Boches. You have read of the new 
atrocities in Belgium. If we had lacked courage, 
which is not the case, reading of all these crimes 
would give us the necessary vigor not to feel 
our own sufferings. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 



. 1st December, 1916. 

C7^r Monsieur o — : 

I thank you truly for all your good wishes 
that I might win the "baton de marechal" One 
does all one's duty without looking for honors. 

For news I must tell you that I have just 
been wounded for the fourth time. There was 
in my sector a little marine cannon which was 
inactive. I obtained permission to use it, and 
during a fortnight I did great damage to the 
Boches. Then I was discovered by them and 
bombarded by them in a terrific manner — six- 
teen shells landing on the shelter of my gun 
emplacement. I kept on firing during this bom- 
bardment, which ended when my piece was 
struck, and it jumped back and hit me full in 
the chest. I was unconscious for two hours, 
but after that things went better. It was 
great luck that I had nothing broken. A 
centimetre lower and I should have had fatal 
injuries. 

That was two weeks ago — I am getting along 
finely and await with impatience my cure in 
order to return to my comrades and my men in 
the trenches, for one is not comfortable in a 
hospital, feeling that when in bed one is not 
in his place. At this moment the only place for 
a soldier is in the fight, mais que voulez-vous? 
One is not wounded on purpose. 



io from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

You must be following in the papers the 
martyrdom of Belgium. I fear always that my 
family may be enduring the same hardships. 
For a long time there has been practically noth- 
thing to eat there, and one has fears of not find- 
ing them alive. It would be a terrible grief to 
fight courageously as we do, only to find noth- 
ing left when the war is over. 

27th December, 19 16. 

I thank you from the bottom of my heart as 
well as all the kind people who busy themselves 
with good works to aid our comrades and above 
all our families in the invaded regions. We are 
very grateful to your compatriots who occupy 
themselves with sanitary work and aviation. 
We all regret very deeply the death of Mon- 
sieur Norman Prince, who was well known and 
highly thought of in this region. I am charged 
by my comrades from the invaded regions to 
interpret to all the people in the different ozuvres 
our thanks for that which you do for us to aid 
us obtain the victory. 

1st January, 1 91 7. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

I received in its time your good letter of 15th 
November, and since its reception I promised 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 1 1 

myself each day to write and thank you for 
showing me so many marks of sympathy, but 
recent events have occupied me and let me hope 
for an unexpected solution. 

The length of time necessary between the 
sending and receiving of our correspondence 
does not permit me to chat with you on daily 
events. I am very grateful for the details you 
give me. If I do not reply to them at length it 
is in order not to make the censor shiver. I 
read your letter to my chiefs and my comrades, 
and all have asked me to thank you for the good 
wishes you addressed to our soldiers. 

In these latter days since I received your 
letter, has appeared the request of your nation 
intervening for peace, which the Allies have re- 
jected in a polite manner. I hope that on the 
receipt of this letter a great step will have been 
made towards the achievement of peace. That 
which we desire is truly glorious, — to assure to 
Europe and to the entire world tranquillity and 
the respect of the laws of humanity. We have 
suifered much, — it is said without complaining 
— not as to morale, for every one has a high idea 
of the sacrifice to be made, but physically, — 
we have passed long days without fire, in the 
water, in the mud, but we are willing to go 
through much more to assure the triumph of 
that our children or those for whom 



12 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

we are responsible may have the assurance of 
a life wholly concentrated towards the good 
and the beautiful, instead of the worries of 
warriors. 

I should like to have sent you extracts from 
the European papers on the subject of the 
various peace interventions, but military exi- 
gencies have distracted me from the normal 
life. For a whole week I have not read a paper. 
I am profiting by a day of rest to scratch off 
this letter. The news you sent gives me great 
pleasure. It is a tremendous help to know 
that "over there" your great country shows 
us so much sympathy, and that one of its 
families has been willing to interest itself in my 
modest self. 

As you understand, the censor will not permit 
me to give precise details; otherwise I should 
be afraid of not being modest enough; but 
as you have asked me to write of some of my 
adventures, I will do so when I have a free 
moment, only I beg you not to compliment 
me on what I have done. Every one is brave 
here. If some have not done extraordinary 
things it is because the chance has not pre- 
sented itself. Besides, in the middle of an 
action it is not easy to know when one is doing 
anything extraordinary. Admirable things are 
often done, and, in the circumstances where 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 13 

they take place, regarded by their doers as 
insignificant. Personally I have lived through 
moments which seemed to me terribly long, 
where the effort expended did not correspond 
with the importance of living. 

The thing which displeases the poilu most 
after the bombardments is an attack with the 
aid of asphyxiating gas. It is the most terrible 
thing that I know of and have lived through, — 
to feel one's self dying, to have seen one's com- 
rades and one's leaders dying, without being 
able to reply, without returning the harm one 
receives; to die like a beast suffering the most 
awful agonies — it is terrible. 

This last time when I was wounded in Novem- 
ber I had nothing to complain of. My accident 
had been foreseen for a long time. Every one 
believes that some day something will happen 
to him, and in proportion to the harm I did the 
Boches I would not have paid dearly even if 
I had had to lose my life. My reasoning may 
seem to you peculiar, mats que voulez-vous? 
c'est la guerre! You give blows, you receive 
them. It is logic! The poilu who at the end 
of an engagement where he has fought well 
receives a bullet or a piece of shell is happy 
that it is not more serious, and finds that it 
was foreordained. 

Without disturbing the censor, I can tell 



14 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

you that I was at Verdun [191 6] at the time 
which, if less happy than at present, was none 
the less glorious. We were among the troops 
who received orders to hold on, cost what it 
might. When after severe losses, caused by 
heavy artillery which nearly crushed us, we 
retired slowly, it was not on our part without 
having very heavy hearts; yet, in spite of the 
fact that we were among those who lost ground, 
our chiefs had words of praise in our favor for 
having held on so long with the few men the 
general command had been able to send to this 
place. Verdun was hell, it seemed to us. How- 
ever, the Somme for the Boches is teji times that. 
Never were we demoralized. Tired, yes — re- 
maining nine days without food or drink coming 
from the rear; and for those who had the strength 
to eat there was dried meat, dried biscuit, and 
chocolate. In spite of that, our poilus were so 
courageous that the officers and your corre- 
spondent were able to smile and joke. I do 
not know what was the cause, whether it was 
the horror of the multitude of corpses which 
were not respected even in death by the new 
shells which continually pulverized them — 
whether it was a sort of intoxication caused by 
fatigue and shock — whether it was tremendous 
preoccupation in the lives of my men and the 
movements of the enemy, — but I did not dur- 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 15 

ing this entire period know what it was to be 
afraid. It was a curious phenomenon which 
permitted me to do things since judged remark- 
able, but which did not cost me great effort. 
Thus things are regarded in their true light. 
Comrades who had not my luck expended 
much more energy in doing little things. 

One morning I was asked by a general to make 
a reconnaissance of the ground in front of our 
lines, consequently on the ground conquered 
by the Boches. I knew very well I could 
easily remain there, and departed, accompanied 
by an under officer. During an hour and a 
half, jumping from shell hole to shell hole, I 
was able to verify the line occupied by the 
enemy, in spite of the fact that four machine 
guns were trying to get me. Although wounded, 
I made a topographical plan of the ground, 
and succeeded in getting through a barrage of 
.105-centimetre shells the Boches put around 
me, and brought the plan safely back to my 
chief. That was the day I won the croix 
(Thonneur. I knew the difficulty of the posi- 
tion, and said good-bye to my poilus before 
leaving, and departed whistling a hunting song. 

Also during night patrols I have had un- 
expected hand-to-hand encounters with the 
Boches. I have even been carried off by a 
species of Hercules who picked me up by the 



1 6 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

neck and managed to get hold of my legs; but 
I was able to succeed in commanding my men 
to fire, and my aggressor was killed while carry- 
ing me. 

One day the Boches threw us a paper asking 
us to take at 9 p.m. some French papers and 
an hour later they would come and take them 
back to their lines. With the authorization 
of my superior officer I took four men and we 
put at the indicated spot a picket to which was 
attached a package of French newspapers. 
Instead of returning to our lines we went into 
ambush, and when the Boches (there were seven 
of them) came to get the papers we took six 
prisoners, letting one go to carry off the papers. 
For this occasion my men and I were given a 
few days' permission. 

It is hard and painful to stand guard for 
entire hours in a trench in the mud, the rain, 
and the wind, expecting from one moment to 
another the arrival of a grenade or torpedo 
in one's face, but it is very interesting to spend 
long hours on patrol, the body flat on the 
ground in the mud, lying in wait for the 
passing of a Boche or an enemy patrol; to let 
them approach and seize them if it be an in- 
ferior force, or to attack them if it seems su- 
perior. One catches cold at this game, mais 
c' est joliment inter -ess ant. To prepare a raid, 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — I y 

jump in the enemy trench, tumble onto a be- 
wildered Boche whom one leads back trium- 
phantly to one's chief, — these are true pleasure 
parties. But helas! how many unfortunate 
deaths, how many poor comrades fall crushed 
by a shell or a torpedo, or in a shelter which 
caves in! Mais encore que voulez-vous? 

It is for this reason: first, the desire to avert 
from our children the worries of such a catas- 
trophe; second, the desire to free again our dear 
invaded regions, to find again those we love; 
and third, the desire to revenge one's self for 
those who have suffered and are no more; 
that gives us courage and sustains our morale. 
The French nation and our leaders have worked 
prodigiously to give us everything necessary. 
Thanks to the fleet of our friend England, we 
have continual provisions to nourish, clothe, 
and sustain us. 

yth January, 1 91 7. 
Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

I do not wish to put off till to-morrow the 
pleasure of thanking you for the delicate atten- 
tion of sending me a remembrance. You can 
never know how deeply I was touched and grati- 
fied by the bundle I received to-day. In order 
to make you understand, I must tell you that 
never, since I left for the war, have I received a 



1 8 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

bundle from any one who interested himself 
in me. At the moment when all my comrades 
received from their families des friandises, or 
provisions for the winter, I found myself more 
than ever forsaken. Permit me, Mademoiselle, 
as I may speak to you with an open heart, to 
express to you all my thanks for this delicate 
attention. 

The role of a leader is sometimes ungrateful; 
I will tell you of a recent happening on All Saints' 
Day — (La Fete des Morts). I gave to my 
poilus a rest period on that afternoon to mark 
this solemn time and I visited each of my men. 
Many who were in the same situation as my- 
self confided to me their grief for the absence 
of their relatives in the invaded regions, or for 
their dead. As well as I could, I comforted my 
brave comrades in combat, but re-entering my 
abri, face to face with reality, I found myself, 
an officer, having been able to say a kind and 
consoling word, without consolation for myself, 
while no one could doubt that I endured the 
same sufferings of morale. 

And it is from you, Mademoiselle, to whom 
I am only an unknown person, the French soldier 
for whom you have been good enough to have a 
little sympathy, that comes the gift which recalls 
to me those of one's family. I do not know how 
to tell you how profoundly I was touched. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 19 

Pray believe that everything gave me pleasure, — 
your kind thought and the contents of the 
bundle. Also, Mademoiselle, if I have the good 
fortune to find again my little family, be sure 
that I shall teach my dear children to know 
and love you. 

14th 'January, 191 7. 
Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

To make you understand all the pleasure I 
had in receiving yesterday your good letter and 
the illustrated magazines, I must tell you that 
they arrived during a time of fatigue and de- 
pression which we call in the terms of the poilu, 
"le cafard." It is a state of depression, — not 
of discouragement — which takes one following 
great physical or mental fatigue — something in 
the nature of a cri de nerfs. Although being 
an officer, and therefore not having the right 
to let myself be overcome by le cafard, it 
produces, all the same, a halting of will-power. 
In these circumstances I have experienced 
several hallucinations, seeing compatriots from 
our invaded regions re-enter France and not 
seeing my dear ones come. I had at one time 
hoped for this happiness, but alas! it cannot be 
at present, for the Boches do not permit two 
members of the same family to leave and be 
repatriated. They are so unhappy there! I 



20 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

shall tell you more of their manner of existence 
at another time. 

Why do you ask me to excuse the mistakes in 
French which you may commit? Is it not more 
for me to regret that I do not know your clear 
language? If my duties were less numerous, I 
should set myself to the study of your grammar. 
I have already studied during the last year, 
outside my hours of guard duty, a little law and 
superior geometry, but it was quite difficult, 
for the Boches do not leave much time to do the 
big problems. In reality we have studies to 
do to prepare for the final battle, and it is neces- 
sary for us to study and put into application 
means of defence against the asphyxiating gases. 

I also had a lovely little dog for a companion — 
"beau" is perhaps a little exaggerated. He 
was a Griffon, with reddish hair, curly and quite 
long. He was very little, and was given me as 
a present when he was only four weeks old. 
With a great deal of trouble I was able to raise 
him by the aid of condensed milk. All the 
regiment knew him. He wore a collar of 
horizon blue cloth like our clothes, on which 
one read in red soutache braid his name of 
Kamerad. He did not like the Germans, and 
was very useful to me during night patrols, when 
by his low growls he would put me on guard 
against an evening surprise attack. He was 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 21 

wounded by a bursting grenade and later by a 
shell which fractured his paw. Well cared for, 
he once more trotted lightly. When at Verdun, 
when I was there, he was killed by bullets from 
a machine gun as he was carrying some instruc- 
tions in his collar to one of my chiefs. I felt 
almost as much grief at his loss as at that of a 
poilu. 

You must be following anxiously, as we do, 
the talks of peace. In spite of them we do not 
let ourselves be put to sleep by such hopes. 
We are preparing to give the great blow. We 
are in good condition materially, physically, 
morally, and with our adversaries it is above all 
the latter which is feeble, in spite of what the 
German press says. 

\6th January, 191 7. 

I do not wish to close without telling you a 
word of your compatriots who serve in our 
ranks. You can never know how much we ad- 
mire them. They greet us with a broad and 
expressive smile which accompanied by a warm 
handshake takes the place of the most elegant 
conversation. You cannot believe the pleasure 
our poilus take in greeting one of your fellow- 
countrymen, — in shaking him by the hand and 
saluting him so proudly one would think he was 
saluting an officer. In the aviation your com- 



22 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

patriots have shown great prowess, but it is 
above all in the sanitary service, in construction 
work, aiding the hospitals and particularly in the 
transport of the wounded that they have done 
wonders. I believe this latter accords a little 
with your temperament. At Verdun, under 
machine-gun fire, among the shell holes and 
corpses, I was taken out in a quiet little car 
driven by one of your countrymen who had no 
other worry than for our comfort, and who, 
without bothering himself about the barrage 
fire on the roads of evacuation, — or that which 
remained of them, — concentrated on avoiding a 
hole or a corpse which would cause more pain 
to our injuries. 

24th January, 191 7. 
Che re Monsieur S — : 

It is with a very heavy heart that I write 
you from the hospital where I have been for 
several days. Following a too prolonged stay 
in the snow I was taken ill, and my wounded 
knees began again to make me suffer a paralysis 
of the joints. It was a temporary crisis, but 
that which troubles me most is my chest, which, 
following the blow received in November, stifles 
me in a serious manner. I am, however, a very 
good invalid, for I have too much sorrow at 
leaving my men at the moment of the final 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 23 

battle; then what a joy it will be for us who 
have been in Alsace so long, when we can throw 
ourselves into the enemy territory! I want 
that so much! I shall do my best to take my 
place among my good comrades as soon as 
possible. You must understand how hard it 
would be to have fought and held on until now 
and not to be in the last great battle, for it is 
the last which is going to begin soon. We do 
not have to form any wishes that it shall be 
favorable to us. We have confidence in our 
chiefs and in the means they will use to lead 
us to victory and find again our dear lost 
families. 

Since my arrival here in a room that is too 
white and a bed that is too lovely, I have spent 
all my time in looking at the beautiful illus- 
trated magazines which you have sent me. I 
recognized in a page of advertisements a picture 
the same as the postal card you sent me from 
Pasadena representing the orange groves with 
snow-covered mountains behind. I also found 
an illustration of my little dog, which in your 
country is called a Sealyham terrier; and I 
saw with pleasure the variety of hens, which 
were the amusement of my little ones — des 
Campines, which are the same as your Leg- 
horns. All the illustrations were superb, and 
my comrades in the same room were equally 



24 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

interested in seeing them. My neighbor in the 
next bed was an officer of our native troops, 
who spoke French with great difficulty, and 
who went into ecstasies over these magazines 
which came from even further off than his own 
home. He was very amused and astonished 
that your customs and your clothes were not 
different from ours, as everything was new for 
a time to him in Europe. 

\th February, 19 17. 
Che re Mademoiselle B — : 

Before replying to your charming letter, per- 
mit me to tell you of some splendid news for 
me. I have had these last few days a reply to 
a message which I sent in May, 1916, to my 
family. The card was dated 15th of Novem- 
ber, 1916, and, though very brief, it reassured 
me that my wife and children are in fair health 
but very unhappy because living is so difficult. 
It would be almost necessary to be a millionaire 
to live even moderately well where they are. 
It is thanks to the generosity of your com- 
mittees that our families do not die of hunger. 

I do not know whether I told you that when 
I was brought to the hospital this time I was 
again taken by an American ambulance. I 
happened to have with me one of your enve- 
lopes and I showed it to one of your compatriots. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 25 

He made me understand that he knew that part 
of the country and we shook hands heartily. 

iSth February, 1917. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

I perceive that I have committed the dis- 
courtesy of talking too long of myself without 
speaking of the step which your Government 
has just taken [severing of diplomatic relations]. 
Although not expecting an effective interven- 
tion, every one here is happy to see the act of 
your country. It is long since the animation 
in our streets has been so great. Even our big 
victories have not so aroused the masses. It 
seems as if the doors of moral victory were 
opening and that the situation of the United 
States is going to cure our hurts. 

The day of the announcement of American 
intervention, I put in my buttonhole a cocade of 
your colors which Mademoiselle B — had put on 
one of the packages. By coincidence, my old 
father, to whom I had sent your letters, also the 
post-cards, that he may keep them for me and 
have them read later to my dear children, had 
bought a little American flag, which he put in the 
window of his apartment. He wrote me of it, 
saying, "I thought that would have been your 
wish if you had been present." It seems that 
a large number of our fellow-townsmen stopped 



26 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

while he was fixing the flag in place, and they 
uncovered and gave an hourra (Phonneur. My 
father was very proud to have been the cause 
of this demonstration. 

Yes, it has happened to me to be afraid, and 
it will happen again. But these fears might be 
better called surprises. The firing of a gun, or 
the rapid passing of a shell, makes one duck 
one's head in an instinctive manner. On the 
contrary, a foreseen and expected attack leaves 
one calm and indifferent. At Verdun during 
the strongest attacks, during the artillery duel 
which crushed us, I took notes very tranquilly 
and sent off reports to my superiors, as if in my 
office. Never during all that time did I have a 
sensation of fear. I was very lucky in this, for, 
being calm almost to the point of foolish indif- 
ference, I was able to busy myself with the ser- 
vice and above all with my poilus. Do not 
think this was brave. It was only natural. 
It was splendid, for example, to see one of my 
sergeants, who ordinarily was afraid, and who, 
to give me pleasure, tried hard to be fearless — 
he was much less calm than I, but deserved a 
hundred times as much merit, for he was making 
a great effort. At times even I would ask my- 
self if during such circumstances one did not 
lose one's feeling, because I remained insensible 
to the most awful horrors. That which added 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 27 

to the impression of calm was the full con- 
ciousness of my duties as an officer. When one 
realizes that the lives of 200 to 250 poilus depend 
on one, and when one feels the responsibility of 
his acts, that he must think and act for all this 
little group, — and I beg you to believe it is no 
easy thing, — one becomes so absorbed one for- 
gets himself. The poor poilu is the most un- 
fortunate. He is guided by the idea that his 
leader is there with him, and follows him with 
his eyes. That is true, but he has only himself 
to think of and his own poor life. 

It is a great help for a chief to feel the confi- 
dence of his men, gained by knowing how to 
measure the effort asked for, and obtaining their 
unshakable faith by never asking them to do 
impossible things. Once at the time of a coun- 
ter-attack at Verdun I remained the only officer 
commanding my company and its neighbor in 
the battalion, I being known to the men, but not 
knowing all of them. I gave the signal for the 
attack, and, without my having to pay with my 
life, — being the first to leave the trench, — these 
350 or 400 men departed at my command. I 
assure you, Monsieur, that was splendid. In 
such a moment one measures the grandeur of 
the enormous confidence which the men have in 
their leaders. I could never have a better re- 
ward than that. I have never known anything 



28 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

more splendid than the spirit with which they 
replied to my signal. You will excuse me, Mon- 
sieur, for taking so long with my explanations, 
but I have touched on a subject very dear to me. 
I love my poilus, and I believe I may say that it 
is reciprocated. 

12th March, 1 91 7. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

Speaking of the American Ambulance, I do 
not know whether I have told you that I can 
never forget the service they did at Verdun. 
No words could express my feelings. I was 
wounded, and waiting at the advance post for 
my evacuation. In spite of bursting shells and 
machine-gun fire which rained over us, the 
automobiles arrived at the appointed hour at 
the meeting-place, — all except one which was 
crushed by a bursting shell. In the inside of 
the car were four blesses couches. Two of them 
were terribly hurt. I did not want to take the 
place of a stretcher, and as I could still hold 
myself upright, they enveloped me in many 
wrappings and put me on the front seat at the 
right of the driver. I thought he would start 
off at great speed, as quickly as possible to 
avoid the firing. No, not at all. Very slowly, 
as if in the middle of an avenue, he avoided the 
numerous shell holes and corpses which would 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 29 

have jarred the wounded. The driver, who 
only spoke French with great difficulty, kept 
askmg me if he was not going too fast for the 
good of my wounded comrades. I could live a 
hundred years but I would never forget your 
compatriot. I, who was only able to keep up 
after a month of torture by the prospect of 
escaping death once again, found strength to 
greatly admire this man. What a lesson of 
energy I got from him. When he helped me to 
get down, we shook hands in a most moving 
manner. We put all our hearts into it. You 
can testify on my part for the devotion of your 
friends among us. We will never forget them. 



(The Somme, 191 7) 

2 1 st March, 1917. 

You must be happy because of this German 
retreat. For us it is not joy; it is delirium. 
My poor comrades who are from the recon- 
quered regions do not know how to contain 
their joy. Sunday and Monday every one em- 
braced every one else, officers and simple poilus, 
as if everything was saved. Unfortunately one 
perceives after the departure of these cursed 
Boches many new atrocities — all the wells and 
springs poisoned; quantites of young girls 



3<d from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

carried off, violated, killed, or massacred. They 
ought, however, to fear a prompt chastisement. 
Perhaps one day our English allies will deliver 
a blow near Lille and will let me hope to see 
again my dear family. You can never doubt 
the sufferings of spirit we have endured. 

What do you think of the Russians? Here 
all that news was welcomed differently. For 
those who were not informed of the latest 
internal incidents, it seemed like a catastrophe, 
for a French proverb says, "One does not change 
mounts in the middle of a ford." In other 
words, one does not change leaders in the middle 
of a battle. For those who knew how formidable 
and unfavorable for our cause were the Imperial 
Party, one expected those "who whistle up a 
wind" to "arouse a tempest." The decision of 
the new government to continue fighting to the 
end has changed all opinions in favor of the 
revolution. When will one take place in Ger- 
many? 

6th Jpril, 191 7. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

Since I have just read the telegram announc- 
ing the entry of your country into the war, it 
is not possible for me to live another hour with- 
out telling you what emotion this news makes us 
feel. Permit me, humble officer to whom you 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 3 1 

have given your confidence and your sympathy, 
to express to you the joy and pride which we 
experienced in feeling our hearts beat with 
yours. The tremendous aid which your coun- 
try will bring us is not only material; it is above 
all an aid of morale and a comfort. The entry 
into the war of your great nation gives the 
whole world official recognition of outraged 
right and menaced civilization. All honor to 
you for this act. 

I do not know how to describe to you the joy 
of every one here — officers and soldiers. There 
are moments when it is good to live. I wish 
that you could have taken part in this cele- 
bration. My comrades and my men to whom 
I speak often of you and of the sentiments 
which you express to me have come this in- 
stant to compliment me on being your friend. 
My commandant has also just telephoned to 
congratulate me. You see I am not modest 
to tell you this. I am personally very happy 
and proud to have seen such a spirit, and to 
be the interpreter for every one here, to tell you 
of the expressions of our gratitude and our 
most ardent wishes for your success in arms. 

In begging you to recall me to the good re- 
membrance of your family, be good enough, cher 
Monsieur, to accept my most cordial thoughts. 

Henri G — . 



3 2 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

Beauvais, 
2%th April, 1 91 7. 

Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

You must be saying to yourself that some 
accident has happened to me, for three weeks 
have passed since writing you. We have been 
engaged in these late affairs — that is what has 
hindered me from writing, and for the last three 
days I have been with my little family, whose 
return I had the good fortune to announce to 
you. 

It is not possible for me to write you at length 
of all the events which preceded my arrival 
near my repatriated family. I can tell you I 
asked myself with a very heavy heart in what 
state of health I should find them. Thanks to 
the courage and energy of my dear wife, which 
has been most admirable, my children do not 
carry too much the traces of their captivity. 
Only my wife appears fatigued by the privations 
she has imposed on herself in giving her part to 
her children. She has been wounded by shrap- 
nel in the left side, but she does not suffer from 
it now, and at one time she was ill in bed with- 
out care for three weeks with a congestion of 
the lungs contracted during the long waits 
necessary to obtain food. 

I ought to begin by telling you that it was 
with tears in her eyes Madame G — charged 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 33 

me to express to you all her gratitude for the 
help and food which the American Committee 
gave to her. Without them, they would all 
have died of hunger. Words will not describe 
the suffering endured by my little family. All 
that is now but a terrible remembrance, be- 
cause I have the good fortune to have them 
in France. There remains to me only to have 
them cared for and to settle them. I hope 
that to have them cared for will be easy. 
Madame G — has need of nourishing food and 
tonics, for she is emaciated, and my oldest 
daughter equally so. She is growing very fast 
and has not been nourished as she should have 
been. My little son is more gravely ill. Of a 
nervous temperament, he was much impressed 
with all this war, and following the explosion of 
a powder factory situated in our quarter, he 
had a shock, became bewildered, and has re- 
mained mentally enfeebled ever since. Only 
my youngest girl has preserved her good spirits 
and knows how to laugh at all her troubles. 
You can imagine that, in spite of my happiness 
at finding them alive, there was a shadow over 
the picture. 

There remains now the question of settling 
them. My wife had wished to bring away 
with her all that was left of her money and 
belongings, the greater part of which had been 



34 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

destroyed or stolen; but when at the moment 
of departure she was examined by the Germans, 
they refused to let her take anything, even 
her livret de famille, her only official piece of 
identification. She was thus forced to come 
away with the little sum of 150 francs, which 
the Boches permitted. In spite of all her joy at 
being again among the French, my wife weeps 
for that which remains with the Boches. Now 
we possess nothing at all. Not a bijou, not a 
single souvenir. The bandits would not even 
permit my dear little girls to take their dolls; 
therefore they were made happy when on their 
entry into Switzerland some one gave them a 
very little one. 

I have spoken to Madame G — of you all, and 
read to her your correspondence during the three 
days' permission I obtained on their return. I 
have told her all the gratitude I owe you for the 
moral and material aid you have given me. I 
gave her the marks of sympathy you have 
so kindly afforded me. She was profoundly 
touched and would like to have thanked you 
herself. Unfortunately her state of health does 
not permit her to hold a pen, — she trembles too 
much. But that will be for later on. My 
oldest daughter, Berthe, asks me to let her 
write for her mamma. I close, chere Mademoi- 
selle, in the hope that this letter finds you in the 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 35 

midst of delightful excursions. As soon as I am 
back in the trenches I will write again. 

Meilleurs souvenirs a votre famille. Plus cor- 
dial ement. 

H. G— . 

(Letter from Berthe) 

Che re Mademoiselle B — : 

I thank you with all my heart, as well as all the 
people of your country, for the ravitaill ement 
Americain^ which has kept my dear mamma, 
my brother and sister and me from dying of 
hunger. I thank you, as well as your good 
mother and Monsieur votre fere, for all that 
which you have done for my dear papa. 

Also, I love you very much and send you my 
best kisses. Vive Les Etats-Unis! 

A little Lilloise, 

Berthe G— . 

iSth May, 191 7. 
Now I have plenty of news of my family, but 
for the present they are not joyous. I had to 
see them come back in a condition bordering on 
misery, without proper clothes, with nothing in 
fact but sickness and enfeebled by two years of 
privation. I assure you it was hard. Forgive 
me if I confide thus in you things I cannot say 



36 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

to my family, but there are moments when 
one seems at the end of one's strength. 

I do not remember whether I gave you a few 
details of the manner of life in Lille. Did I tell 
you that for more than two years they have only 
had 250 grammes of bread a day; that my wife 
had to buy grain and grind it in her coffee-mill 
and make from it a sort of cake of doubtful 
taste; and that eggs which cost 15 centimes 
in normal times were above 125 centimes, 
meat 30 francs for 500 grammes, and very 
scarce? Also that the explosion of a neighboring 
powder factory practically destroyed my house 
and stunned my children, and that my son then 
received serious injuries which have affected 
his mind? 

242A May, 191 7. 
Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

At the moment when your letter arrived I 
was going to a small attack. I read your letter 
hastily and glanced at the lovely photographs. 
Then carefully putting in an inside pocket your 
pretty little flag, and happy as a child, I went 
"over the top" with my men. 

If I write you so gayly to-day, it is because I 
have come out once again from a bad place. The 
result was not brilliant, but I brought back all 
my little world. Nevertheless I had luck. My 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 37 

clothes were pierced by little pieces of the gre- 
nade, my watch smashed on my wrist, and I had 
several scratches on the face. Yesterday one was 
anxious for the success of the affair. To-day 
one rests happy that one has taken a kilometre 
of trenches which does not even appear in the 
communique . Only one has come out of it with 
a whole skin and I have been sparing of my 
men. That sounds a very little thing, but it is 
of enormous importance. 

You know, perhaps, the etymology of the 
word "poilu"? La voild: During the retreat 
from Belgium and the Battle of the Marne, — 
in fact during all the phases of the fighting in 
the open, — one could not reasonably give much 
thought to one's comfort or even the necessary 
cares of hygiene. Following the addition of 
the English to our line of troops came a physical 
renaissance. It is not rare now to see, the 
evening before an attack, the men freshly shaved 
and the moustaches curled, — guess with what? 
With a nail heated by a match! Coldly the 
poilu will tell you, "I am making myself beau- 
tiful to die," or "to show the Boches that I 

still have soap"! 

2%th May, 191 7. 

Cher Monsieur S — : 

You can never know how reading of your de- 
lightful travels changes our ideas from our 



38 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

present life. Yesterday once again it was Sun- 
day — Feast of Pentecost. In the trenches one 
knows very little of Sunday, still less of religious 
festivals, for it seems that the Boche prefers 
these days for making a heavy blow. I cele- 
brated this fete in the afternoon by re-reading 
all the interesting correspondence you have 
exchanged with me. Sitting at the bottom of 
a communication trench, a piece of canvas 
stretched over our heads to protect us from the 
sun while reading the letters and looking at the 
photographs, my comrades and I passed some 
delightful moments, when our imaginations took 
us far from the realities. I was happy to notice 
one thing: From my comrades and those of my 
men who in passing by my improvised shelter 
glanced over the photographs, I did not hear one 
expression of envy; on the contrary I picked out 
many reflections of this sort: "To say that here 
are happy people who are coming to break their 
heads to give us pleasure, and all for an ideal, — 
it is chic, all the same." The expression is 
rough, but it denotes none the less the admira- 
tion that our brave but uneducated poilus have 
for your compatriots. You can never know 
what great moral aid you bring to us. 

I know well that fatigue and weariness can 
be read on many faces, but it has been said 
that victory will be for the one who knows 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 39 

how to suffer a quarter of an hour longer than 
his adversary. For us, in spite of the restric- 
tions, and ill-supplied wants of the civilian 
population, the future does not appear un- 
certain. Certainly all is not rosy. There is 
even much blood in the picture of the situa- 
tion, but in spite of our individual and national 
enemies we remain confident. 

Recently there have been requests for officers 
knowing English to act as instructors in the 
American Army, and I regretted greatly not 
to be able to compete. In December I refused 
to be instructor to the class of 1918, because I 
did not wish to leave my regiment, but since 
my return from the hospital, as I am often 
ailing, I fill in, which is less interesting than 
being fixed in one company. 

6th June, 191 7. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

It is true that the future sometimes appears 
dark and full of worries. The East is to us a 
complete mystery. What will the Russians 
do? I think they are like spoiled children to 
whom the intercourse with a black bogey is 
salutary. I think the spectre of China and 
Japan leagued for a crushing blow would open 
their eyes and oblige these revolutionaries be- 
cause of their lack of a ruler to let themselves 



40 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

be governed. One hopes that a Washington 
or a Danton will know how to impose himself 
upon them. 

Apropos of anecdotes of my poilus, I forgot 
to tell you that the little starry flag which I 
received from Mademoiselle B — , has had some 
victims. You can easily understand that such 
a lovely flag could not remain without being 
used; therefore, the evening of its arrival, 
fixed on the end of a bamboo pole which served 
as an antennae for wireless telegraphy, we car- 
ried it out in front of our line, and arranged ten 
metres in front of it a wire with a gas-bell at- 
tached. The day came, and the Boches, per- 
ceiving the flag, fired on it without result. In the 
evening, one of our machine gunners got ready 
his piece, and the comrades listened. At eleven 
o'clock the bell rang; it was the Boche run- 
ning into the wire. A round of machine-gun fire; 
then silence. At I a.m., a new noise; new firing; 
and then cries. About 3.30 I had the flag 
brought in. Two days later we learned from a 
prisoner that at eleven o'clock we had killed 
two men, and one had died of wounds; while 
at 1 a.m. one was killed and three wounded. 
That was not bad. I was so pleased with the 
success of this little game that I offered an 
extra wine ration and a cigar to each of those 
who had served the machine gun. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 41 

Sth June, 191 7. 
Chere Madame S — : 

Yesterday I received the lovely illustrated 
cards which you sent me from the Yosemite 
Valley and I thank you very much for them. 
You must have had a delightful trip in that 
beautiful region. The waterfalls are superb and 
the view is magnificent. It changes greatly 
one's thoughts, for instead of thinking of our 
existence in the earth I can dream of the 
splendors of your national parks. 

Also I have received the wonderful big box 
of friandises. I am truly too spoiled by all the 
good things you send me, and it will never be 
possible for me to thank you sufficiently. 

If it pleases you to know of my satisfaction 
in receiving such a splendid bundle, it would 
perhaps please you more to know what use has 
been made of it. I was going to write, "Your 
bundle arrived at a fortunate moment," but I 
would then have used the customary phrase 
with which the poilu acknowledges the recep- 
tion of a bundle, for there is no example of a 
bundle arriving without need. Does that mean 
that one lacks everything? Oh, no. But one 
can always find a use for everything that comes. 
I unpacked your bundle, and while contemplat- 
ing this great box of delicious things, had many 
reflections on the inefficiency of the submarines, 



42 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

and on the way in which to thank you for your 
delicate attention. I asked myself whether it 
would be better to eat them at once in order 
that the rats should not take too large a share, 
or that — one never knows — a shell should crush 
my hiding-place; or whether it was preferable 
to keep them for a day when there was a lack 
of food, or, better yet, to offer them as a reward 
to some brave poilu, or as a feast after some good 
news. I finally decided on the latter. 

In going through the shelters at meal-time to 
observe the condition of my men and to hear 
their thoughts, I perceived one of my good men 
did not eat. On questioning him, he told me 
his teeth bothered him and that he could not 
chew the bread, which was very hard, following 
its long trip to the trenches. I thought quickly 
of my box of crackers, and, although I am not a 
gourmand, a rather selfish feeling kept me for a 
moment from going for them. That did not last 
long, for I could not endure seeing him suffer 
in chewing. I offered him a handful of my 
crackers, but when I saw his pleasure at being 
able to eat, I gave him the whole box. The 
others, his comrades, laughed at him and 
treated him like a millionaire because he was 
eating lentils cooked with onion with such 
dainty biscuits. You see how one becomes like 
a child when one ought to be most serious. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 43 

These are little incidents which enliven our 
lives and which keep up the spirit of good 
fellowship. Not to break the rule, you can 
see that your box arrived at a moment when 
one had need of it. 

A sentiment which has developed greatly 
among us here is fatalism. It is not a religious 
question nor a sign of discouragement, neither 
of loss of morale. It is above all the result of 
things seen and lived through. One told me 
recently of the attitude of the colonel of one of 
the regiments which attacked Moron villiers : 
Before the attack he went out in front of our 
line of departure and waited in a shell hole the 
hour of attack. By this act each wave of 
assault had to pass by him, and he saluted them. 
He was a fatalist. During all the attack he 
showed complete indifference, and nothing hap- 
pened to him. 

From the religious point, for one to be a 
fatalist is, perhaps, the wrong conception of 
the laws which govern human beings, but 
from the military point of view it is a tremen- 
dous strength. When in the middle of a bad 
passage the instinct of self-preservation makes 
you want to hide or stop and be no longer 
master of yourself, at this moment one says, 
"Come what may," and continues on his way. 
It is a great help. In hard moments, at Verdun 



44 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

and others, I have been happy to be a fatalist. 
One thus creates for one's self an illusion of 
security which rests one. Before closing per- 
mit me to thank you again for all your thought- 
fulness and delicate attentions. In the hope 
that this letter finds you in the midst of delight- 
ful excursions. 

Be good enough to accept, chere Madame, 
to yourself and your family the expression of 
my most cordial thoughts. 

H.G. 



Jthjuly, 1917. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

You must be wondering if I have suddenly 
become completely indifferent, not to have 
replied to your interesting letter of the 5th of 
June, which I found by good luck in the debris 
of that which remains of my belongings. 

It is not possible for me to tell you from where 
I have come, but, however, I can tell you that I 
have been for three weeks in one of the corners 
which has had the sad monopoly of being daily 
in the communiques. Do not expect me to 
tell you any of the events. It is not that I 
do not know several stories, but I am too full 
of the horrors of that vast carnage which I have 
been through and where many Boches' corpses 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 45 

mixed themselves, alas, with those of the French. 
The carnage at Verdun, which deeply impressed 
me, was surpassed in horror by the awful visions 
of these bloody days. One wonders how one 
has come out alive and without a scratch. 
Do not think that our proportion of losses was 
enormous. Happily not. There were many 
losses, because so many were engaged in this 
furnace. There were also many slightly 
wounded, which, in a week, or at most a month, 
can rejoin their units. 

Our preparation of artillery was marvellous, 
stupefying, appalling, and murderous. But the 
thirst and hunger, — ah, what cruel suffering! 
How I blessed Madame S — for the delicious 
preserves which made the terrible hours less 
hard for me. In spite of the physical or moral 
depression, inevitable after each great effort, 
one is happy to find one's self alive again, 
when for ten days and twelve nights one has 
seen and felt death brush by you a hundred 
times daily. 

To tell you of my surprise yesterday when 
opening a paper (an unknown thing for three 
weeks) I read of the war news, and above all 
of the arrival of American troops in France. 
How my heart beat on the day of your festival 
of independence! I wish I could have been 
near you to express to you all my feelings. 



46 . from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

As I am counting on leaving en permission 
to-morrow, it may be that I can be in Paris 
for the 14th of July. I shall, without doubt, 
have the pleasure of seeing your splendid 
" Teddys." I shall seem to see a little of your 
country shining in their eyes. You will excuse 
me if I do not write at length to-day. I must 
tranquillize my family, who have not heard 
from me for ten days and may be worried. 

Beauvais, 
13th July, 1917. 

It has been a great task for Madame G — to 
make again a little home. It does not compare 
with that which we had at Lille, but she can 
have the strict necessities, though it grows very 
slowly. She was desolated at the idea that the 
little house she had rented here would not suit 
me. However, for seven weeks she has worked 
with a great heart, without caring for her en- 
feebled health; she has busied herself with get- 
ting the large garden into shape and caring for 
the growing vegetables. To-day she was well 
satisfied, for I could not express my satisfaction 
at such a splendid accomplishment and also at 
seeing the children in good health and suitable 
surroundings. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 47 

23d July, 1917. 

Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

A funny thing has just happened to the 
Boches opposite to us. I need not tell you it 
was a coup de main. The English have for a 
long time carried out these fruitful raids. Gen- 
erally a raid has for its object to make prisoners, 
in order to know one's neighbor, who he is and 
where he comes from, that which he thinks, 
and all the things that may interest the high 
command. Sometimes it succeeds; sometimes 
it does not. Lack of artillery preparation, 
abandonment of trenches by the Boches at the 
beginning of an operation, and, Dame, one can- 
not bring back that which does not exist. 

About two days ago the Boches tried a raid on 
us, well led, it is necessary to admit; but in- 
stead of making prisoners of us, it is we who have 
captured them! Like the moral in a fable of 
La Fontaine, "He is taken who wishes to take" 
— " Tel est pris qui croyait prendre." This will 
be moreover the conclusion of the war. Are not 
our neighbors amiable? They gave themselves 
great trouble to come to us. They would have 
done better to surrender, for several of them 
were wounded. To revenge themselves they 
bombarded us heavily. If I am writing badly 
it is because of the continuous trembling of the 



48 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

two fires, — French artillery combating that of 
the Boches. Happily it is only the artillerymen 
who are after each other at this moment, and all 
the shells are passing over us. Voild la guerre. 
To-day, or at least at this moment, one does not 
think much of what is happening to the artillery- 
men. Every one here is sitting outside. One 
is even breakfasting in the sun. This evening 
it will perhaps be the reverse. The artillerymen 
may dine tranquilly in the shade, thinking each 
must hide in his turn. Only for the poor in- 
fantryman it is more often his turn. He is not 
content with collecting shells from the cannon; 
he is the only one who offers himself the luxury 
of receiving bullets, torpedoes, and grenades, 
flaming liquids, and other diabolical inventions 
conceived by German kultur. 

Enclosed in this letter are some violets which 
I picked for you when I took a trip to Ballon, 
Alsace. The word " excursion" is perhaps pre- 
tentious. You must imagine three or four hours 
of climbing, heavily loaded, with the mind on 
quite different things than contemplating the 
countryside. Naturally at the arrival at the 
summit one has little admiration except for the 
spring of fresh water which permits us to slake 
our thirst. Following that with a glance, care- 
less because of fatigue, at a lovely panorama 
which deserves more attention, one stretches 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 49 

one's self on the grass, or the snow, according to 
the season. 

I had wanted to write you at length to-day, 
but the Boches have begun firing again and I 
must go to see that my poilus are ready for un- 
pleasant encounters, and also to try and make 
out the intentions of the Boches. If only they 
will not try a heavy blow to-night. 

Au revoir, chere Mademoiselle. My best re- 
membrances to you and your family. 

H. G— . 

yth August, 19 1 7. 
Chere Madame S — : 

I feel the need of writing. It is a great relax- 
ation for me. For ten days we have been en- 
tirely in the water in a relatively calm secteur. 
We are living in regular swamps, little or no 
shelter — not only no shelter for protection from 
shells, — for one does not count much on them, 
as nothing resists them, — but we have no shelter 
against the rain. It is truly strange to see such 
a thing; I cannot give you any reason. For 
the first few days I had a hole a little larger than 
that of a terrier, and I had to curl up while lying 
in it, for I could not sit up. I had for a mattress 
a mat such as one puts over hotbeds, only mine 
was made of reeds such as are used for fishing- 
poles. It was in an advanced state of decay. 



50 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

It is needless to add that a collection of insects 
of all sorts inhabited it. Clayey soil every- 
where, red as blood, covered one like a cloak, 
and kept the dampness in one's feet. Our 
clothes, hands, even faces, were all the same 
color. 

Two days ago my poilus gave me the surprise 
of offering me a shelter which seemed like a 
palace in comparison to my former one. We 
had had to build a shelter for the munitions, 
and the poilus had enlarged its dimensions. I 
had thus a place two feet wide, six feet long, and 
four feet high, where I could move about on my 
knees, and above all stretch myself out quite 
well. You cannot doubt that it was comforta- 
ble for me. I had for a table a box of car- 
tridges, for a chair a case of grenades, and on 
the walls were fixed rockets of all colors, which 
serve us at night for signalling the artillery. 
While waiting for this important task, the latter 
served me as hooks on which to hang my be- 
longings to dry. 

It was absolutely impossible to be clean; even 
by washing one's hands twenty times a day, one 
could not hope to touch paper without soiling it. 
My men were even more unhappy, I think, 
though we have not all the same tastes. For me 
the height of comfort is to be able to write — 
whether in a trench or in a shelter, provided I 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 51 

can write, all is well. But alas, it has been 
impossible to write outside, as it rains all day; 
impossible to write inside because I cannot sit 
upright, nor can I have a light because of the ex- 
plosives. You see I have the entire series of 
trench munitions chez mot, — cartridges, star 
shells, grenades, machine-gun belts, rockets, and 
asphyxiating — [Censored.] 



24-th September, 1 91 7. 

I forgot to tell you that on my departure for 
the new fabrique de communiques we crossed 
some camps and detachments of Americans. It 
was for all of us a tremendous encouragement 
and a delightful sensation. They were very 
imposing in their sober clothes and with their 
regularity of movement. 

I must tell you that the new Boche gas is 
not joyous. It has a caustic action on the face 
and clothes. In spite of that, the number of 
losses among the wounded who are affected 
does not amount to one per cent. It is above 
all from the point of view of morale that gas 
has effects; in a little while one will think no 
more of- it. It is not thus with the tanks. 
They have great moral effect on the Boches, 
because they cause them actual losses; the 
Boches speak of them as diabolical inventions. 



52 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

If you knew where my division is and what it 
is doing at the present time, you would easily be 
astonished that I can scratch off so much paper 
so tranquilly. I cannot be ashamed that I am 
not with it, because it is not my choice, that 
I have been put in the rear for several days, 
as I cannot march. My poor knees refuse to 
carry me. My long stay in the swamps pro- 
duced a new crisis in joint troubles. For 
several days I could hardly hold myself on my 
horse. In spite of the fact that I am very 
peaceful here, it is not without painful emo- 
tion that I hear the incessant rumbling of can- 
non, and each courier brings me the same news, 
— success of my regiment, and the names of 
comrades who have paid for it with their lives. 
We all know very well one cannot make an 
omelet without breaking the eggs, but I have 
never left my comrades and I feel like a lost 
being, here in this calm. 

\th October, 191 7. 

Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

I perceive that health is a precious thing, 
for I had hoped to remain with my brave poilus 
until the end of these hard combats, but I have 
had to leave them in spite of myself. This 
latter time we "have had them," as say the 
poilus. I cannot give you details, but you may 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 53 

have read in certain communiques that three 
times the Boches have attacked us and three 
times we have repulsed them. It is not a great 
offensive like those so many times carried out. 
It has been an effort to take from us certain 
important points of observation which we took 
from them some time ago. From the moment 
that we occupied these points they have been 
very interesting for us; also we have held them. 
If I had remained it would not have been pos- 
sible for me to speak of this, but because of my 
absence these latter days I can tell you that 
everything was marvellous. I will tell you 
later on of the citation with which the grand 
chef gratified us. At the moment we are re- 
ceiving congratulation on congratulation, but 
that which seems best to us is to feel the con- 
fidence of our poilus. I have already spoken 
to you of this, but I cannot keep from repeating 
it. In general our numbers are made up of 
older men, therefore more thoughtful because 
of age and family cares. I have had occasion 
many times to hear advice given by our older 
men to the younger ones, and it is admirable 
to see them. I cannot describe to you the en- 
thusiasm of these counter attacks; they seemed 
like nothing but a race against death. I have 
seen — because unfortunately I could not be 
among the first, because of my lame legs — 



54 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

some of my poor boys, knocked down by a 
shell or throwing themselves into a hole to 
escape one, run with all their might to catch 
up with the wave of assault. 

Near me a machine gunner was sitting tran- 
quilly by his piece, waiting until the Bodies' 
attack was not more than ioo metres off before 
opening fire. He nearly burst with satisfac- 
tion. " Regardez, mon lieutenant" he cried to 
me, "how I am ripping them up!" and in 
truth he made havoc with them. I have told 
you that the fire gives a feeling of security — I 
mean that when one begins to be afraid one 
fires to give one's self confidence. You will 
understand therefore that my comrade with the 
machine gun was very cool-blooded. I who had 
not the right to be afraid, had to hang on to 
myself not to command him to begin firing. It 
is then that one feels one's self a little thing, — 
very little in the midst of this tempest of fir- 
ing; and when one sees the gray uniforms 
precipitating themselves toward you, one can- 
not help wondering whether one is to be the 
sheep or the butcher. 

You are going to ask me how I found the 
Boches in this attack; what was my impres- 
sion of them. In all sincerity I can tell you that 
I found them a little changed, because in this 
corner where I come for the second time the 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 55 

roles are reversed. Last year it was the Boches 
who attacked to the finish; they had then the 
advantage, and we more difficulties in holding 
on, because it was necessary to hold on. This 
year it is we who attack without haste, method- 
ically, and with a great deal more economy of 
human material than the Boches had last year; 
therefore it is not astonishing if I find things 
changed. 

I have had occasion lately to talk with pris- 
oners, because we have sometimes even made 
more than we wanted. There are times when 
prisoners are very cumbersome. In general 
the Boche who has no leader surrenders easily. 
To one of my comrades having thirty men 
with him, one hundred Boches presented them- 
selves, with cries of " Kamerad." You will 
admit it was cumbersome, above all when one 
had good reason to suspect that each prisoner 
had two or three grenades in his pocket. They 
might easily try to reverse the role and make, 
or try to make, prisoners of my friends. 

In a shelter we once found a strong Boche 
garrison who, when summoned to surrender, 
replied unanimously, " Kamerad sans officiers" 
I ought to say in honor of the latter that they 
had preferred shooting themselves. All the 
men surrendered. All the Boches are persuaded 
that there will be no winter campaign. Great 



56 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

was the astonishment of an officer when I told 
him we were ready to pass it in fighting. Much 
greater was his astonishment when, in speaking 
to me of your armies — which he said would 
never come to Europe because their sub- 
marines barred the ocean — I took from my 
pocket, along with your flag, a photograph of 
an American camp taken as we were coming 
to this region. He couldn't believe his ears 
when I told him. "The Americans! But there 
are one hundred thousand of them, — and more- 
over, before the hour is out you will see some 
yourself." This was true, as on his way back 
of the lines he would have to pass near to a 
place over which floated your starry flag. An 
officer told me that he paid tribute to the 
correct treatment we give our prisoners, in 
spite of the stories which he had orders to give 
his men. Further up I spoke to you of the 
very military conduct of the Boche officers 
who did not wish to surrender, but I forgot to 
tell you that for the others we have been given, 
without having asked for it, very precise in- 
structions permitting us to annihilate troops 
who attack again after surrendering. 

To finish my little stories to-day, which I 
hope will not bore you too much, I want to 
tell you the adventure of a young Boche pris- 
oner; apropos of age, I have forgotten to tell 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 57 

you that that which strikes me most is the 
youth of our adversaries. We have troops of 
seventeen and nineteen years in front of us; 
also their morale is very young. A youngster 
of eighteen fell completely bewildered on one 
of my poilus, who immediately hindered him 
from all his bad intentions, which, however, he 
really did not have at all. They brought him to 
me. Our sector seemed relatively calm at that 
moment, and I could permit myself a little dis- 
traction. Noticing his unembarrassed air, I 
asked him if he was pleased to be a prisoner; he 
replied in the affirmative and told me of his mis- 
adventure. He had been one of some troops of 
assault, and in the first wave. As he had very 
little belligerent taste, he allowed himself to fall 
into a shell hole and let his comrades pass on. 
He knew that behind the waves of assault other 
regiments would have to come to install them- 
selves on the conquered territory, or that which 
ought to have been conquered. He waited an 
hour; then when all was calm again and the 
machine guns had ceased their rattling, he said 
to himself that he could without fear advance 
to his first line and retake his place among his 
comrades. Everything led him to hope for a 
good result, for no one had gone back. He 
advanced from shell hole to shell hole, saw the 
corpses of several Frenchmen who had too 



58 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

boldly advanced in front of our line, and he did 
not take into account the great number of 
Boche corpses. Positive of being on the right 
road he continued to advance, and was picked 
up by us without having seen a Boche line. It 
was easy for me to understand. The attack 
of which he was a part had not been able to 
reach our lines. None had taken the road 
back, almost all of them being killed, and the 
living being prisoners. 

You may repeat to Monsieur your father 
that a very cultivated prisoner affirmed to me 
that in Germany one thinks that America will 
make an appearance of arming herself; that 
she will never fight. I think — and, you are 
even more certain — that their disillusionment 
will be great. 

Before closing, I want to assure you that 
those in your country who put their hope in 
aviation see things in their true light. More 
than ever of late I have observed of what 
capital importance are the things of the air. 
The courage of the poilus for an attack would 
be nothing without artillery. This latter de- 
pends on the aviation. We have had a great 
many examples of it; and there as elsewhere 
the Boche works, too. It is necessary to 
recognize this quality in him. 

I have just been spending some delightful 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 59 

hours with the lovely magazines received. 
Stretched on several chairs — for I cannot move 
— I admired at length the lovely pages of the 
Studio, with its beautiful colored illustrations, 
and the pictures in Asia and the National 
Geographic. Motor Life has charmed me. The 
American Photo Magazine and Travel interested 
me very much. Film Fun and Life were very 
amusing. While I am writing, one of my com- 
rades has been resting himself from the horror 
of the carnage from which he had just come, 
by looking at certain illustrations in the Studio. 
It is easy to understand how these sketches 
charm him. 

yth November, 191 7. 
Chere Monsieur S — : 

I ought to tell you of my great pleasure while 
on my 10 days' permission in finding Madame G — 
and her two daughters in better health again. 
Unhappily this is not the case with my poor 
Pierre. He remains always under the effects of 
the concussion of 1916. According to the advice 
of doctors who have seen him, he needs to be 
sent for quite a stay to a medical and instructive 
establishment. Prices of board are unfor- 
tunately very high — 200 to 700 francs a month. 
I have made a request to the Prefecture of my 
Department, in view of having him admitted 



60 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

to one of these schools free of charge as a war 
victim, or at least at a reduced rate. I know 
that the request has been sent to the Minister 
with a favorable opinion. . . . 

I have had occasion to see troops of very 
different countries. First of all, the Americans 
in great numbers — splendid in bearing and 
presence. They impress one by their correct 
behavior and appearance. They represent for 
us the Great Hope, — the deliverance and the 
return of our murdered country. But will we 
ever return there? English and Portuguese 
were quite numerous in the regions I came 
through. Seen in Paris were some Bersagliere, 
splendid Italian soldiers, not yet affected by 
the bad news — all were transients, I think 
Serbians and Roumanians, Russians and Bel- 
gians — also French poilus. 

All Saints' Day, November 1st, we went to 
the great cemetery for the official service for 
the dead, and in the afternoon we went to des 
Invalides to see the war trophies and to salute 
the aeroplane of our great aviator Guynemer. 
It was impressive. In the middle of the Court 
of Honor the aeroplane was placed, but hidden 
under the flowers, wreaths, and bouquets which 
his admirers had placed there in saluting or 
inclining themselves in front of it. There, as 
in other public places, I admired the behavior 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 6 1 

of your splendid soldiers. Later that day I 
entered into a cafe, where it seemed to me there 
were no empty places, but two United States 
soldiers got up to offer me their place, as I was 
an officer. I found that very charming. Above 
all, it was offered in such a graceful manner. . . . 

You are probably going to ask me how I 
found our great city during the fourth winter of 
the war. Eh bien! truly, in spite of my rather 
low spirits, caused by the recent death of some 
of my comrades and the Italian affair, I found 
Paris very striking. I speak of the super- 
ficial Paris — that which one sees on the streets 
and the boulevards. One must not forget that 
it is made up of sixty per cent, strangers — 
people brought there by the needs of the war, 
and living for and by the war. 

As to the heart of Paris, it suffers discreetly at 
home. It weeps for its dead and waits for the 
return of those it loves, but it remains ever con- 
fident. It is no longer the frivolous Paris one 
would have known formerly. It is like a person 
growing wiser with age. Even bad news leaves 
it indifferent. But it is not insensible; for if 
there is a victory, of little importance even, it 
lives again. That which gives a great deal of 
animation is the going through of the permis- 
sionaires, — people who wish to live happily dur- 
ing a very short period, but always replaced by 



62 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

their successors. And as for your soldiers, we 
must love them well and receive them well, to 
make them forget the distance that separates 
them from those who are dear to them. 



lytk November, 191 7. 
Chere Monsieur S — : 

You have read of the battles of the English 
in the waters of the Yser. Although we are not 
in that region, we are equally poorly situated. 
I assure you that our role becomes more and 
more difficult. Each day we become more at- 
tached to our brave fioilus because of the diffi- 
culties of existence which we meet.* Unfortu- 
nately recent events do not seem to favor us, 
but we cannot doubt the issue. It would be 
wrong to think thus of our allies and in par- 
ticular of the efforts of your great nation. Nev- 
ertheless you must realize that events do not 
appear joyous. After the Bulgarian treason, fol- 
lowed by that of Greece, we have had the Rus- 
sian defection, and now this attack on Italy. 

It is not modest on my part, being a part of 
it, to recall all that the French Army has done 
on the different fronts. But it must be admitted 
that, like the Boches, we are always there when 
things are going badly. At the time when 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 63 

Russia, Roumania, and Italy struck great blows 
at Austria, the Boches arrived to fill up the holes. 
We resemble them a little now. When Belgium, 
Serbia, Roumania had difficulties, our flag ap- 
peared. When the English front was flooded 
last fall, we were there. Now we are with the 
Italians. Surely, as with all departures of the 
troops, a tear glistens in the corner of the eye, 
but each has a bright smile on the lips. 

In this moment among the great hours we 
are going through, truly we have terrible 
worries, but not a word of discouragement from 
our brave men. As our physical forces decline 
after these months of suffering our strength of 
morale seems to gain in front of increasing 
difficulties. If sometimes we let ourselves be 
overtaken by worries, caused by political agi- 
tations, we quickly realize that these situa- 
tions are not comparable to ours, and that 
there is never but one enemy — the Boche. 
From him only come all our miseries and our 
torments. 

At this moment I have good news from home 
except from Pierre. No progress in his con- 
dition, and the request I made to the Pre- 
fecture with the view of obtaining his admission 
in the Medical Institution has as yet had no 
answer. During all this time he suffers and 
the days pass. 



64 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

I think that never has the responsibility of 
being the head of a family appeared to me more 
crushing than now, never have I felt the weight 
of my little family so heavily as in this moment, 
not even when they were in the hands of the 
Boches. I suffered then because of their ab- 
sence and worried about their existence, but now, 
on seeing them back again, and only after the 
greatest of efforts, settled so very modestly, 
in a little better health except for Pierre, I under- 
stand more than ever how they will suffer the 
day I may disappear. I tried gently to put to 
my wife in imagination such a situation, for I 
believe it a duty in order that the reality may 
not be too cruel and the consequences too hard. 

Berthe and Henriette work quite*' well now, 
but their backwardness caused by their cap- 
tivity troubles them always. Each week they 
write me a good letter and reply to questions 
I ask them. This occupies me a great deal 
and pleases them, because that which comes 
from their papa is to them precious. Berthe 
wrote me the other day: "Your permission 
ended much too quickly. You were helping 
me so much with my work. Now I have an 
examination to take at school and I do not 
know enough." 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 65 

23 d November, 191 7. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

The communique has just come telling us of 
the success of the English near Cambrai. I 
immediately departed to congratulate one of 
my poilus whose family inhabited Masnieres, 
one of the little villages reconquered and intact. 
Next I asked for him an exceptional permission, 
permitting him, according to the instructions 
of the English Army, to go and see his family. 

The Boches to show their disappointment 
have torpedoed us copiously. That only ended 
about an hour ago. Ordinarily during a bom- 
bardment I can sleep or continue to occupy 
myself with my little duties, but to-night I had 
the presentiment that they were not going to 
content themselves with a simple bombard- 
ment. They tried a coup de main, that which 
the English call "a raid." All my little world 
was ready for them, even those who were 
authorized to rest themselves, and the Boche 
left four of their number among us. With us 
there was not a single scratch, only one had to 
have a little sport and throw several cases of 
grenades. It is a very good way to limber one's 
joints when one is stiff. You see the Boche 
serves us for various purposes. There remains 
only to-night to go out and search for the 
pieces of Boche and to bury them. That is 
«4> 



66 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

not always done by the Germans. Last year I 
had to bury the Boches killed between the lines, 
but nearer their lines than ours. They have 
no respect for their dead. Each time when it 
is possible for us, we do it, because we consider 
that all the ground up to their lines of barbed 
wire belongs to us. They must have realized 
to-night that the ground up to our lines did not 
belong to them! 

That which gives us pleasure in the new 
English offensive is that the villages are intact; 
and that the Boche has not had time to repeat 
his crimes, as in his strategic retreat on the 
Somme last April. This new method is going to 
worry the Boche very much, because they will 
be obliged to hold immobile behind all their 
front strong reserves ready to parry each new 
attack. The method of long and minute prep- 
aration has the inconvenience of giving warn- 
ing of an attack. The French, as well as the 
Boche, are generally warned of an offensive on 
a given point by the frightful shelling that 
precedes it. These are military considerations 
which perhaps will not interest you, but by them 
we gain back our little country where life can 
begin again rapidly. 

Some time ago I guided a poilu who came, 
hoping to see again his house in this vast desert 
.near which we were stationed. In spite of the 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 67 

fact that I was guided by a detailed plan of the 
village, we wandered for more than two hours 
before determining which was his house and 
then only thanks to the communal wells; he 
knew that his house had the third well beyond 
that of his village. You understand that every- 
thing must have been swept away not to be 
able to determine which were houses and where 
were the streets. Remember also that the 
material of the demolished building and much 
of the rubbish is often carried away for the 
needs of the army. 

I want to tell you a little incident lived 
through yesterday afternoon. I departed in 
the morning on duty on horseback and accord- 
ing to my custom rode across country. I went 
to the quarters of my Colonel, who invited me 
to dejeuner after the service questions had been 
settled. About one o'clock I went back to my 
horse and I fairly caracoled at having been ad- 
mitted to the table of my great chief. I was 
opposite a little hillock and therefore in sup- 
posed security when a shell burst in my direc- 
tion, then another, and still others. Suddenly 
there were eight terrific detonations at my left. 
If I had not had a horse already greatly fatigued 
he would have reared and fallen over. Without 
knowing it I was passing in front of some 
batteries of French artillery which the Boches 



68 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

were trying to locate. Thus for a few minutes 
I was under a circle of fire. It was very im- 
pressive. I was happy to have experienced for 
a few minutes sensations unusual for an in- 
fantryman. Nevertheless I was quite content 
to come out of it. 



Chere Mademoiselle B — : 



29^ November, 191 7. 



I think that this time your desires have come 
true. The bundles arrived last evening, and 
although very curious as to their contents I 
waited until this morning to open them. I can- 
not say I was greatly surprised, for I am now a 
little accustomed to being spoiled, 4 but I was 
profoundly touched by all that the bundles 
contained. It is necessary for me to say, in 
order that you will excuse me for having opened 
them both, that my captain and my comrades 
presided over their reception. Following the 
logic which I have already explained to you in 
a previous letter, we hold nothing in reserve 
for the future. So, in spite of my insisting 
that the opening of the second bundle should 
wait until Christmas, my captain pointed out 
to me that I could not possibly charge myself 
with such a possession in moving from one 
place to another. That was true, but it seemed 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 69 

to me I was breaking your confidence by not 
following your instructions, and I preferred to 
tell you about it. 

If your good mother and you know how to 
spoil me with delicious things you also know 
_>w to give me great pleasure and great good. 
It would never be possible for me to express 
to you my gratitude. By a coincidence it has 
become very cold this morning. Someone re- 
marked to me that you were like the good fairy 
of ancient stories, sending a warm sweater to 
cover me. I am certain that if your mother 
had seen me in my warm knit sweater she 
would not have believed me so old, for I was 
like a great, joyful boy. It is necessary for 
me, too, to thank you for the socks, which 
are so warm and useful here. They will be 
welcome, because we are again in the swamps. 
As to the other things, I marvelled at them, 
and at the thought you have had in sending 
me all these utilities. The knife is marvellous 
and is the admiration of every one. That 
which greatly interested my comrades were the 
two packages of lump sugar. Every one won- 
dered at the thought that presided over the 
choice of the little articles, — the coffee, con- 
densed milk, etc. 

As you may easily imagine, it was necessary 
to open a box of dainties, the dry almonds and 



jo from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

the ginger, and we made some of the delicious 
George Washington coffee. Our captain had 
a search made for a bottle of wine, and, as he 
charged me to present to you the thanks of all 
our little mess, I asked him to raise his glass in 
your honor and also that of your great nation 
on the occasion of your festival of Thanksgiving. 
After having distributed to each one a little 
piece of the ribbon of the United States colors 
we pinned them on to our various coats. After 
that we raised your little flag and we all rose and 
saluted you as well as your family. I address 
to you from the bottom of my heart my most 
sincere thanks for so much goodness. More 
moved than we wished to acknowledge, we have 
just separated. 

I am sure that this evening one of us will 
carry near to the Boche the remains of the box 
and its wrappings. We will leave a note ex- 
plaining that in spite of the submarines, these 
dainties came in one month from our great 
Allies to the French trenches. Perhaps they 
will think it was your splendid soldiers who 
brought these things to spoil us, but we will 
arrange it so that they cannot fail to under- 
stand. Have you read the descriptions of the 
capture of the first Boche by the American 
troops? The Boches could hardly believe their 
eyes when they saw your men. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 71 

I thank you very sincerely for all your good 
wishes, and I beg you to accept mine equally 
sincere for the New Year. It is perhaps per- 
mitted for me to hope that, thanks to your 
nation's great aid, we will see an end to the 
terrible scourge which is slowly consuming us. 
The news lately seems to be actually good on all 
sides. Our friends at Cambrai have been dis- 
turbed of their firm title, and we hope that the 
taking of this city will oblige the evacuation of 
Douai, which would free Lille. 

I have been disturbed several times, but I 
hope that the Boches will permit me to finish 
my letter. 

I forgot to tell you that I have ornamented 
the sweater with a little end of ribbon of your 
colors, which is sewed in the middle of the chest, 
near the point of the collar. By the same mail 
I have written to the house, of the surprises 
you have sent me once again. The other day 
Madame G — scolded me by letter because she 
believed I had omitted to reply to you. She 
does not write much, but she is none the less 
grateful for all the attentions you have given 
us. She charges me to present to you her most 
sincere wishes on the occasion of the New Year. 
In transmitting them to you I beg you to sub- 
mit them to Madame S — , to whom I have 
written by this same mail, to Monsieur S — , to 



72 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

whom I owe a letter, and to Monsieur George. 
Perhaps the year which begins will hold for us 
the gift of being reunited or of letting us meet 
one another. It is my dearest wish. 

I am obliged to end in great haste. In the 
expectation of hearing from you and renewing 
to you the expression of all my gratitude, ac- 
cept them with my bons sentiments et mes 
meilleurs salutations. 

Henri G — . 



6th December, 191 7. 

Here in France one has been a bit worried by 
the Russian events, which turn like those of a 
melodrama. In Italy, in spite of the heavy 
attacks which our leaders expect, one sees the 
situation with calm and confidence. For the 
new year we would have wished to hope that 
it would end with us back at our hearthsides in 
the midst of our families. I believe that that is 
asking too much. One counts on the American 
nation, and we know that she will not spend 
her energy until she is ready. One can in this 
hope find strength to hold against many attacks. 
It is hard and painful, but we will hold. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 73 

20th December, 191 7. 
Chers Amis: 

Here several whole days have passed and I 
ought to have written to thank you for all that 
I have received from you, but I have been 
terribly busy these last few days. We have 
been taking a course with flame-throwers, that 
which the Boche calls flammenwerfer. I tried 
to take several photographs, which I will send 
you later. 

Then I had to return to Verdun with the 
widow of one of my comrades, to take her 
to the cemetery where her husband rests. I 
need not tell you that these are sad duties which 
friendship obliges one to perform. I knew that 
my friend wanted tremendously to know the 
corner of the earth where lay her poor departed 
one. Having asked for two passports from the 
Etat Majeur of the army, it was permitted me to 
take her there as she desired, and I was able 
to visit again the graves of the other comrades 
whose families had charged me with their care. 
Unfortunately it is not possible to have you 
read the letters of my friends, but it would be 
hard to find a Frenchwoman more courageous in 
her grief, and I ought to tell you that the other 
day she gave me a tremendous lesson of courage. 
As for me I could not hide my sorrow, while 
she, calm and strong, accepted the loss, however 



74 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

cruel, which she had experienced. These are 
the true women, yet her life is completely 
broken. 

Returning to the trenches after this short 
absence I had the great pleasure of finding four 
bundles from you. The first arrived was of 
recent date with a little word from Monsieur 
S — with his Christmas wishes; two others 
dating from September; and the last to arrive 
was, I think, of the end of April, marked Los 
Angeles. As says a French proverb, " Every- 
thing comes to him who waits." It is certainly 
one of your boxes sent last spring and following 
its non-appearance supposed to be submarined. 
My comrades had already opened the boxes 
and made a little hole in the contents. That is 
well understood and agreed to by me. It is 
the custom that when one of us receives a pack- 
age we may open it in case of absence of the 
owner, for fear of perishable things. That is 
not the case with the delicious things you send. 
You know how to choose that which will not 
deteriorate. 

Many thanks for all the useful and agreeable 
things on the part of my comrades, and on my 
own account. I am enclosing a little card of 
thanks which my captain begs me to send you. 
We have left a large part of the bundles for 
Christmas Day, if that shall be possible for us, 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 75 

for at this moment one is preparing material for 
a communique — that is to say, one is bombard- 
ing the Boche copiously, preparatory to a raid, 
which will without doubt take place to-night. 
At the hour when you receive this letter nu- 
merous raids will have been carried out. Per- 
haps this one of ours will not have been worthy 
of a mention in the communiques, but that does 
not really interest one — the principal thing 
is to be able to give one's commander informa- 
tion on who is opposite us. 

You cannot doubt that the question is very 
grave at this moment. We are going through 
a period when each is anxious as to what will 
happen next. The Russian treason is truly a 
black point against us and it is certain that 
the Boche will attempt a great effort before 
the entry into line of important contingents 
of your countrymen. 

One expects continually a great German 
attack. Will they succeed? I am not willing 
to believe so. But a heavy blow is always 
possible. 

I have seen recently a civilian who has just 
come back from Germany, where he was held as 
a prisoner, and he told me that the economic 
situation is not good and that by spring it will be 
desperate. In May, 191 7, they cut the green 
crops to consume them at once, and when the 



76 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

harvest came it was made exclusively for and 
by the army. Thus the population cannot be 
happy. It will be necessary for us to bear the 
great blow for which one is preparing, and 
perhaps by next summer there will be a happy 
solution. But who knows from here what is 
really going on over there [in Germany]? 

The papers are not interesting at present, 
and to avoid being bored I do not read them. 
All the same, as in each great war of the past, 
in whatever country it has taken place, there 
are always unfortunate things going on in the 
rear of those who fight. Those who are the 
authors of these things are not worthy of a 
thought. We have but a single purpose — to 
fight the Boche. It is of grave e*nough im- 
portance that just now one should give all his 
attention to attaining this end. 

There are moments when one ought not to 
think of the discomfort in which we live. One 
must not look at one's self after a night of 
painful guard duty, when one's capote is stiff 
with frozen mud, the face green and splotched 
with cold. But if a ray of sun appears, all the 
face relaxes and becomes almost smiling, an 
expression which the arrival of a torpedo or a 
shell cannot take away. In spite of all that 
is hard, one does not want to complain, but 
nevertheless it is the fourth winter. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 77 

Many thanks for the congratulations for our 
brave poilus. They are truly splendid, and we 
love them well, because they are worthy of it. 
How many of us have awaited impatiently for 
the papers these latter days, hoping that the 
English will have pierced on towards Cambrai 
and hoping above all to see their own country. 
It is almost harder to bear than a bombard- 
ment. 

I must not continue in this way or you could 
misjudge me and believe in a loss of morale, 
which is not so. Mais que voulez-vous? I am 
under the blow of the loss of good comrades, and 
the cannon which thunders lets one anticipate 
of a new communique. 

I end in renewing to you the expression of 
my sincere thanks, in sending you the cordial 
salutations of Madame G — , who is in better 
health again as well as the children — to which 
I join my salutations, equally sincere. 

Very cordially, 

Henri G — . 



2d January, 1918. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

It is not possible for me to let this day end 
without writing to you. The year began yester- 



78 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

day, and I wish to renew to you the most 
sincere wishes I form for you, your family, and 
your country. 

I received Christmas Eve your good letter 
of the 27th November, a package of illustrated 
magazines, and the third bundle from Madame 
S — for Christmas. 

To tell you what I owe in the way of thanks 
to your family is impossible. I do not know 
how to express myself to show you my grati- 
tude. Your very interesting letters and those 
of Mademoiselle B — are always a veritable 
feast. To tell you of the delightful hours we 
spend with the illustrated magazines is also 
impossible to describe. I do my best to trans- 
late the resumes written under each illustration, 
and among my comrades I am asked to explain 
each picture. The letters are read many times, 
and when one of our comrades comes to see us 
I am expected to give him explanations on the 
United States. 

Christmas Day we were in open line. Little 
or no shelter, only the officers having a hole 
not much larger than that of a terrier. I was 
able to have gathered several pine branches 
with which I tapestried the walls of an assez 
grand gourbi. When I say "large," that repre- 
sents the capacity of half a railway carriage, 
in which was already a bed and a table. On 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 79 

the table was a microscopic fir-tree all covered 
with ribbons and naturally with our flag and 
the little flag of your country. We had put 
as a contribution the preserves and friandises 
and cigarettes of the latest bundle, which 
arrived the night before as if by enchantment. 
I assure you that if the wireless could have 
communicated to you our words, you would 
have often heard your name pronounced. 

At our little mess every one speaks of you, 
as if we had all known and seen you. When 
a comrade has been absent, on his return he 
asks, "Eh bien, has one any news from Amer- 
ica?" If not, one says the mail is delayed. 
If yes, it is necessary to read it. The other 
day the Colonel passed by and said to me, 
"I must hurry and return to my quarters, 
for I have not been able to take the time to 
breakfast this morning and I am very hungry." 
I offered him a gaufrette to still his hunger. 
"Oh, it is true," he said to me; "you are the 
spoiled child of good people. Give them my 
thanks and express to them my sympathies." 

Some time ago I had the occasion of dining 
in company with two of your splendid soldiers. 
As soon as they saw me they wanted to talk, 
and were very happy to see me take an English- 
French dictionary from my pocket, by the aid 
of which we were able to converse. What was 



80 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

their satisfaction of seeing in my kepi a. little 
cocade of your colors, as well as in my note- 
book. They were a corporal and a sergeant 
having a leave of three days to visit the city 
where I was. The next day they saw me in 
the street and came to salute me. 

I am chattering of insignificant things and 
I have not congratulated you on the trouble 
you are taking with your new work at N — . 
I beg you to accept all the wishes which I form 
for its good success. I am now very certain 
we could shake each other by the hand and 
call ourselves " allies" as well as "friends" — 
our cause is yours and yours is ours. 

At present one is going through a period of 
nervous tension. We are at bay, keeping good 
guard and trying to find out at which point 
the Boche is going to hurl himself, for try to 
pierce our line he certainly will. It would be 
wrong not to recognize his deeds, such as they 
are. Certainly neither the Italian defection nor 
the Russian treason is an aid in our game, but 
I firmly believe that French breasts will know 
how to bar the route to the Boches long enough 
that a strong American concentration can be 
made which will finish the party. 

We have still a great effort to furnish. I am 
not at all of the opinion of that Monsieur who 
appeared as if he were very well informed, repre- 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 8 1 

senting a great American paper, and whose 
sensational article of ten days ago entitled 
"France is not bled white" you must certainly 
have read. He contested our losses, etc., etc. 
Officially France has mobilized 15 per cent, of 
its composition, and no other nation has come 
near to that number. We are not exhausted 
physically nor enfeebled morally. On the con- 
trary, at the approach of a new danger all the 
heads hold themselves up and the necks stiffen, 
but it is not for nothing that we have always 
borne the greatest efforts and the hardest 
blows, — Verdun, le Chemin des Dames, etc. — 
there have been only the French — and many 
have remained on the ground. 

I do not know whether the papers have told 
you that the Boches have tried to fraternize 
on our front as on the Russian and Italian fronts. 

One morning in our sector an officer and a 
Boche soldier without arms, raising a white 
flag, presented themselves. The officer of the 
secteur presented himself and demanded of the 
Boches that they surrender. They made 
known their refusal and made it understood 
that they had come simply to talk. After hav- 
ing got in touch with the artillery — for I ought 
to tell you that one saw numbers of Boches 
in the first advanced line — the officer, refusing 
to surrender, was killed, as well as his following, 



82 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

at the moment when a well-adjusted barrage 
of 75's transformed the curious Boches into 
little pieces. It was very impressive to thus 
kill a Boche hors de combat. He was perhaps 
the victim of what his chiefs had told him, 
but it was the only way to reply to advances 
of this sort. The general commanding that 
region has moreover warmly congratulated the 
officer on his initiative. 

I wrote you at the beginning that I did not 
want to let the day end without writing you, 
for I had promised myself to do so yesterday, 
but frankly I had not the spirit to write. 

I was bothered by le cafard, that villanous 
little beast who only attacks the morale. It 
was because it was a painful day. To know 
one's family were not very badly off, it is true, 
but not to be able to hinder one's self from 
thinking that perhaps they would not have 
you any more at the end of the year; to know 
whether one would return to one's house, to 
one's hearthside, — all that is an agonizing 
problem. The courage does not lack, but 
neither do the bullets, shells, and gas. 

Mais que voulez-vous? 

Mademoiselle B — told me of having read of 
the citation of the regiment. I do not know if 
I have told you what is our nickname in the 
army. After the terrible combats of the 13th, 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 83 

14th, and 24th September, but above all the 
24th, one of our leaders christened us the 
"division of tigers" — and you know that such 
as men do, such they are. Also, now all our 
brave poilus feel themselves under the obliga- 
tion to do always more and more to remain 
worthy of being called " tigers." I must tell 
you that they will do their best to conduct 
themselves as such. 

We were formerly "defensive troops," that is 
to say, firm for holding a conquered or menaced 
position by reason of the middle age of our 
men, and the calm temperament which belongs 
especially to the North of France. We are now 
classed with the troupes d'Elites, such as the 
colonial troops, and the active troops made 
up of young elements and especially trained for 
the attack — the title is enviable, but onerous. 

This evening, if I can, I am going to write to 
Madame S — . She must know how much I 
regret not to be able to correspond in her lan- 
guage, to chat often and in a friendly way, and 
to thank her for all that she has done even when 
it is to make a pair of chaussettes boiteuses. (The 
socks were of uneven length.) Be good enough 
to tell her that I shall receive them with the 
heart and not with the eyes, and shall be too 
happy at receiving them not to learn to limp 
with one leg to preserve the equilibrium. 



84 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

I must end for the moment, because I have 
to busy myself with the changing of the clothes 
of the poilus. Following the bad weather there 
has taken place a change of belongings — vests, 
pantaloons, shoes. It has been necessary to 
use ready-made garments of average size, with- 
out knowing the size of each man, or what 
number of clothes or shoes fits him. It is not 
the least gay moment of the day. With the 
good humor which the poilu shows, it is curious 
to help at a change of belongings. If the capote 
is long or short, one knows how to explain what 
is the reason, and how he resembles the client of 
the first tailor of London. 

I hope that my letter finds you in good health 
and in the midst of your well-installed courses, 
and be good enough to accept the kind regards 
of my family, the sympathies of my comrades, 
and my cordial salutations. 

Henri G — . 



14/A February, 191 8. 

Chere Madame S — : 

I have been spoiled again — what delightful 
times one can spend with these splendid il- 
lustres! Each one tries to decipher them with 
the aid of his dictionary. Life had a " succes 
fou" but the large pictures in Country Life 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 85 

made every one exclaim in admiration before 
their beauty and their finish. If you could 
have seen us, four or five groups of officers 
near the lamp with the same magazine. Each 
one gives his advice and his manner of under- 
standing. It is one of our best pastimes. I 
am certain that the magazines pass through at 
least fifty hands. You can thus realize how 
many people are made happy. Many thanks 
once more. 

I wish that the news of my family were better. 
My wife is very weak and she no longer seems 
in as good health as during the first months of 
her return. She writes often of her restless 
nights, of her nightmares. Always it is the 
Boche who worries her. I do not know if I 
wrote you on my return from my last permission, 
that I had often heard Pierre and his sisters 
cry out in their dreams about the Boches. I am 
happy to go to them to-morrow for ten days, 
and I shall try to find out if they have not still 
hidden from me some misery which the Boches 
caused them. On each leave so far, I have 
learned of some new horror, — first, the accident 
to Pierre, the wounding of my wife by a shell; 
later, of her illness. What am I going to learn 
this time? 

Berthe is becoming very intelligent and 
thoughtful. She often writes me very delight- 



86 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

ful little letters, and I believe that she will soon 
catch up in her studies with the children of her 
age. 

Beauvais, 
\th March, 191 8. 

Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

Your long, delightful letter of 4th February 
reached me here at the hospital. It will not 
surprise you very much, perhaps, because I 
have now become a pillar of the hospital. This 
is what happened. 

The 24th January I wrote you that I de- 
parted to a hospital near Verdun, where I 
did not stay very long, for they did not look 
after me much. The 14th February, on my 
leaving there, I told you of my departure en 
permission — I had hardly reached home when 
I became again very ill and was taken to a 
hospital in Beauvais. 

I ought to tell you at once that I am better 
now, for I am being very well cared for by a 
good doctor and splendid nurses. That which 
helps my treatment is that each afternoon my 
wife comes to keep me company, and Thursdays 
and Sundays the children come with her. You 
see that I have nothing to complain of. The 
treatment will be quite long, because of the 
trouble with my heart. When I am better, and 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 87 

can leave, I shall be sent to Amiens to be operated 
on for something in the throat, but that ought 
not to be serious. Following that, I expect to 
be sent to a town especially installed, both from 
a medical and climatic point of view, to finish 
setting me to rights; and then I may be able to 
rejoin my regiment. I wrote to my colonel 
to excuse me for being so often absent, and tell- 
ing him that, being well cared for, I seriously 
hoped not to be too long in getting free. He 
replied to me that under such conditions he 
would be happy to keep me on in his regiment. 
I am very pleased, because you understand that 
we all love our regiments. It does not matter 
what one is, one has one's chiefs, one's friends, 
one's poilus; that is the spirit of the country. 
Often one knows the families of one's comrades 
and it is hard to be separated from them. 

I started out by telling you at once of my 
health, but I ought to have thanked you for 
the lovely magazines received lately. Life is 
always very amusing, but Color is superb. I 
have just been spending some delightful moments 
looking at them and trying to decipher all the 
inscriptions. Happily you have translated a 
great part of them, and that is much more 
interesting for me than working out a word-for- 
word translation. When I had finished reading 
them, I lent them to some other sick officers, 



88 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

but the one to whom they gave the most pleasure 
was an English Tommy who does not know a 
word of French and who can talk only with the 
doctor, and even then not much each day. This 
poor unfortunate had thus nothing to read, 
and he was completely happy when I had your 
magazines sent to him. You would have been 
pleased to see the manner in which he expressed 
his satisfaction in reading something which he 
could at last understand. I understand how 
hard it must be to be a stranger alone, and in a 
hospital. There are also some Portuguese and 
Italians in this hospital. Aside from visits 
which their comrades who are in the city make 
them, they cannot understand an entire sentence. 

I am always very interested to read of the 
food restrictions imposed by your government. 
If in France we had acted that way long ago, 
there would have been a less serious crisis; as 
it is, it is only four days since one has been for- 
bidden to make pastries. 

Of the events of war I shall speak little. You 
must now know as much as we. You know that 
the first United States battalions have done 
well recently. It seems the Boche is worried 
about your aid. In spite of that, I believe 
his offensive will be violent and hard. 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 89 

Rennes, 
28th March, 191 8. 

Chere Mademoiselle B — : 

I am very ashamed to have let three weeks 
pass without writing. There have been various 
reasons which have prevented me from giving 
you news of myself and my family, but I wish 
to thank you at once for all the delightful letters 
which have just come. 

My last letter was from the hospital in Beau- 
vais, where I was well cared for and had the 
pleasure of seeing my family each day. Helas! 
it was too good to last. 

The approach of the Boche offensive necessi- 
tated the evacuating of all the sick and wounded 
who could be moved from the hospitals situated 
in the zone of the armies. Beauvais came under 
this ruling, and I was consequently packed into 
a hospital train, one lovely morning, for an 
unknown destination far from the front. It 
was not only leaving my family which made me 
sad, but having to leave la zone du front as a 
malade. In 1916 after Verdun I was also sent 
to the interior, but then I had been wounded. 
I do not know if I can make you understand 
that it is considered a little degrading for a 
combattant to be sent back ill. Here I am being 
cared for to-day, more than three hundred miles 
from the front, while my comrades fight. But 



90 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

if all the various treatments go well, I hope to 
return to my regiment sometime after the end 
of April. I am impatient to be again with my 
comrades, in danger certainly, but also in a posi- 
tion of honor. 

In your good letter of January 27, you en- 
closed a newspaper clipping about le Pere 
Cabanel, and you told me of the pleasure you 
had had in hearing him lecture. In my turn, 
I have sent the article, and an extract of your 
letter expressing your warm appreciation of him, 
to some good friends I made during my stay in 
Alsace, where le Pere Cabanel was stationed 
with his "blue devils" for a year and a half. 
It must be easy for you to understand how such 
a splendid Frenchman would please the Alsa- 
tians. I ought also to tell you, that in that 
country one must neglect nothing that will 
combat the Boche spirit. 

I do not know whether le Pere Cabanel told 
you that, following great attacks, it is not at all 
rare to see the Catholic chaplain going over the 
battlefield in company with the Protestant 
pastor, both of them giving their religious aid 
to the dying, regardless of their faiths. We 
had a splendid chaplain, but as he was old, one 
often saw him going about on the arm of the 
pastor, who was young and active. It was 
touching in its simplicity. In general, all the 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 91 

religieux at the front have been admirable for 
their bravery, sincerity, and tact. 

I remember in the attacks at Bois de Chaume, 
in September, a young officer near me was 
mortally wounded. As he was still on the bat- 
tlefield the next day, the chaplain, who was 
going by, approached him to say some words 
of consolation. My comrade, who was not a 
believer, made an effort and said, "Monsieur 
r Aumonier, I am not a believer, but I am going 
to die happy because I have done my duty." 
Our good chaplain replied, " Permit me, my 
friend, to shake your hand, because you are an 
honest man." These are the little things which 
make one admire them. 

A little while after that we were sent back 
to rest billets, with orders to let the men amuse 
themselves according to their tastes, and for 
many this was to drink, to blot out the nervous 
excitement of the hard hours. Our chaplain, 
without orders, went through each cantonnement, 
and as every one loved him, he was quickly 
surrounded. Then, without saying a single 
word of religion, he gave a little moral lesson, 
easy to understand, but great in the manner 
in which he explained that having conducted 
themselves as bravely as they had done, they 
had no longer the right to lower themselves, but, 
on the contrary, ought to be proud of being true 



92 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

men on whom the high command might count, 
and that, being conscious of the strength of 
their characters, they ought to consecrate them- 
selves to the service of good. 

Unfortunately he died soon after, of typhoid 
fever contracted following great fatigue. I 
know that before dying, he complained that he 
who had so often escaped death on the battle- 
fields should have to die in a hospital. 

You say you have read a translation of " Le 
Feu" by Henri Barbusse. If you remember 
some notes I sent you in 191 7, some of them 
entitled "La releve" you can compare them 
with the passage called "La descente" You 
will understand it when you realize that until 
June, 1916, I was in the 18th Company of which 
he speaks. 

2&th March, 191 8. 
Cher Monsieur S — : 

I have hardly the heart to write at this mo- 
ment, but all the same I cannot put off thanking 
you for the good letters and words of encourage- 
ment you have written me. That is why to-day 
I turn to you, for we understand each other, in 
spite of the censorship restrictions. 

You will have read without surprise at the 
end of the French communique of March 25 : 
"The French troups began on the 23d of March 



from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 93 

to intervene in the battle on the British front. 
They have relieved a part of the forces of their 
allies, and have begun fighting on their own 
account in this sector," etc., etc. It is true! 
It is splendid! Thus, what I wrote you a little 
while ago is confirmed. 

I do not think this is the real battle. It will 
begin elsewhere. The French poilu expects it 
elsewhere and awaits it coolly. We will go 
through still more black days, but we know 
that your nation is on the horizon, and the 
army which held at Verdun will know how to 
hold in Picardy — or elsewhere. 

And while my comrades fight, here am I 
a sluggard at the hospital, and still ill. I cannot 
bear to think that my comrades are under the 
Boche shells, while I am tranquilly in a bed far 
from the cannon! But alas, all my rage and all 
my impatience can do nothing but retard my 
cure. 

If the Boches keep on advancing at this rate, 
in three days they will be at my house again. 
I await with anxiety each day's communique, for 
that of to-day let me think them about 50 kilo- 
metres off. But I must not lack confidence in 
my comrades who are fighting! 

Madame G — has great courage and is full of 
resignation. Though always anxious for her 
and the little girls, it is for Pierre I fear the 



94 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 

most, for I believe that if he were once again in 
the hands of the Bodies, he would not come 
back alive. My poor little son is not the same, 
and I do not wish to have any illusions about 
his condition. I fear and I believe that he will 
remain definitely afflicted. I have as yet had 
no reply in months to my request for his ad- 
mission into a school of mental education. 
As I have not the right to neglect anything for 
my dear little one, I think the ceuvre where 
Mademoiselle R — is working could perhaps 
act and bring about a happy solution. We 
are very grateful to you for this new proof of 
interest in our little son. 

Madame G — does not realize Pierre's condi- 
tion, as she is always with him; but I see plainly 
that, although very gentle, he learns nothing. 
Please God, who has taken the intelligence of 
the son, that He does not take the life of the 
father. 

The End. 



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